Tuesday, February 28, 2012

02/28/2012
The hearing yesterday of the Senate
committee on banks, financial institutions and currencies seeking to
establish the source of the possible leaked Philippine Savings Bank
(PSBank) documents of Chief Justice Renato Corona revealed the
disturbing fact that the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) is in the
habit of peeking into bank accounts of certain citizens even without
court orders.

For PSBank alone, it was established that 112 bank
accounts were looked into by the BSP, not the Anti-Money Laundering
Council (AMLC) that the law authorizes to probe into suspicious bank
accounts, but a so-called BSP anti-money laundering specialist that
appears to have been done to skirt the Anti-Money Laundering Law (AMLA)
that required the AMLC to secure a court order or the authorization from
the account holder before a bank account can be opened.

The BSP undertakes the surreptitious examinations of accounts in the
guise of an audit and majority of the targets are so-called politically
exposed personalities (PEP) who are generally government officials and
politicians or institutions that have a certain association with a PEP..... MORE

Syria’s Interior Minister has announced that 89 per cent of those who
took part in the referendum have voted in favor of a new constitution.
The new law puts an end to five decades of one-party rule among other
reforms put forward by President Assad.

Interior Minister Ibrahim al-Shaar announced the results of the referendum at a press conference on Monday.­

According
to the minister, out of 14,580,000 Syrians eligible to vote some
8,376,000, or about 57 per cent, actually came to the polling stations
and voted, RT’s Maria Finoshina reports from Damascus..... MORE

The Occupy London camp outside St Paul's Cathedral was destroyed
early Tuesday. Hundreds of officers converged on the camp just before
midnight local time and began to dismantle what had been home to around
70 activists.

­Bailiffs in high-visibility jackets dragged tents and their contents
to garbage trucks and dumpsters where they were crushed. Police in riot
gear formed cordons to keep protesters and their supporters out of the
camp. Activists say the police were met with peaceful resistance.
However, media reports say around 20 protesters have been detained.

Several
dozen protesters have been camped on the steps of St Paul's Cathedral
since October last year. It was one of the longest-surviving encampments
inspired by the New York “Occupy Wall Street” movement against
corporate greed..... MORE

Or, what is
generally referred to by cinephiles, worldwide, as the night of the
Oscars. The award is officially “the Academy Award of Merit,” but as
legend has it, the trophy got the affectionate nickname in 1931, when
one of the Academy’s secretaries exclaimed it looked liked her “Uncle
Oscar.”

There’s another version that says it was film actor Bette
Davis who looked like it after her first husband, the band leader Harmon
Oscar Nelson, but what’s what, no one will never know, kasi sa totoo
lang, it no longer matters, basta Oscar na siya, tapos..... MORE

02/28/2012
As oxymoronic as this might strike the
ear, there are probably honest property developers in Metro Manila, but
someone of my acquaintance — let’s call him The Professor — reckons
there are several of the other kind as well. Along with fellow
unit-owners in the condo tower where he resides, he has complaints about
the developer and its contractor, and arising from this he, in his
words, “without even trying have been made aware of five other cases
where there have been serious complaints/legal actions by residents who
did not get what they thought they signed up for.”

Those
complaints range from “what appear to be shady or questionable practices
(misrepresentation) in selling to customers, to illegal practices and
the ignoring of the law regarding building plans, environmental issues,
worker health and safety, lack of transparency and accountability, etc.”

In
his own case the problems started when the developer announced that a
third tower would arise on a site where residents were under the
impression when they bought their units that there would be only two. A
group of them put together a campaign, some members of which were then
hit with a libel suit brought by the developer which, in due course, was
thrown out by the prosecutor..... MORE

02/28/2012
Would that everything were all right
with the Philippine Government, with Philippine democracy, with the
people of the Philippines! Would that the Legislature enact needed and
relevant laws, the Executive ably and satisfactorily implement them, and
the Judiciary accordingly act on its violations! Would that there be
equality and separation of power — in truth and in fact — among the said
three branches of government! Would that the Philippine Constitution be
not merely a nice paper to read but really a basic document for the
government to abide with and for the people to live by! Then, the
Philippines would be a blessed country and the Filipinos a fortunate
people — and thus probably become the big envy of the world.

But
something is wrong — here and now! The Philippine government is not of
the people, by the people and for the people — but of the politicians,
by the politicians and for the politicians. The Legislative Department
rests primarily immersed in but partisan politics and pursuant political
alliances. The Executive Department remains disabled and incompetent in
its mandatory agenda for the common good and public welfare of the
citizenry. The Supreme Court is anything but supreme in the
interpretation and application of the laws of the land. To say that such
an adverse composite phenomenon spells social disaster for the country
and misery for people is one big understatement..... MORE

Ignoring
China’s protest, the Department of Energy (DoE) will continue to offer
15 maritime offshore territories for oil exploration, including two
areas near the province of Palawan being claimed by Beijing.

Energy
Secretary Jose Almendras said the Philippine government hopes to award
the service contracts to winning bidders next month amid opposition from
China, which asserted that two of the 15 areas are part of the disputed
South China Sea.

“We offered these service contracts which the
Republic of the Philippines believes are within its territorial claims,”
Almendras told reporters at the sidelines of the 1st European
Union-Philippines Energy Meeting.

China maintains “indisput-able sovereignty” and historical rights over the vast sea that straddles one of the world’s vital.... MORE

Communist
Party of the Philippines (CPP) founding chairman Jose Ma. Sison
yesterday denied that he is already in the country after striking an
agreement with President Aquino, blaming supporters of detained former
President and now Pampanga Rep. Gloria Arroyo for spreading the false
information.

In a rare broadcast interview over dzRH, Sison stressed that he is still in Utrecht, The Netherlands where he is in self-exile.

“I am here in Utrecht, and only yesterday (Sunday in Manila) I was a public speaker in Amsterdam,” Sison said.

Earlier
reports circulated about the homecoming of the exiled CPP founding
leader. There were also reports that Sison was offered a Cabinet
position by the Aquino administration..... MORE

The House
prosecution panel remains nowhere near substantiating any of their eight
allegations on impeached Chief Justice Renato Corona as they again
suffered a severe blow yesterday with Senate judges issuing a barrage of
lectures and reprimands on their efforts to pit the impeachment court
with the Supreme Court (SC) through their pleadings that would impinge
on the independence of branches of government.

The court also
ruled against seeking SC Associate Justice Ma. Lourdes Sereno’s
testimony personally or in writing that was topped off by another
reprimand from presiding justice Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile
after they appealed for a clarification on the court’s rejection of a
witness.

The move of the Senate impeachment court to deny Sereno’s
testimony was due to the decision of Senator-Judge Antonio Trillanes IV
to “withdraw” an earlier motion to send her written questions to shed
light on the

prosecution’s alleged
partiality of Corona to former President Gloria Arroyo in the issuance
of a temporary restraining order (TRO) that would have allowed Arroyo
and her spouse, Jose Miguel Arroyo, to leave the country last November..... MORE

02/28/2012
The House committee on good government
yesterday effectively banned contro-versial American casino magnate
Steve Wynn from doing business in the Philippines after the panel
declared him persona non grata for allegedly bes-mirching Philippine
Amuse-ment and Gaming Corp. head

Cristino Naguiat and the country regarding his bribery accusation against the Pagcor chairman.

This
even as the panel lauded Wynn’s corporate rival, Japanese gambling
mogul Kazuo Okada, for his continued faith in the prospects of the
Philippines as the next gaming and entertainment center in Asia.

At
the committee hearing, panel chairman Manila Rep. Amado Bagatsing
virtually cleared Naguiat of any wrongdoing when he was hosted by Okada
during a visit to Wynn Resorts..... MORE

The Department of
Labor and Employment said that Taiwan government has extended the
cumulative stay of foreign workers in their country from nine to 12
years, which would benefit Filipino caretakers, domestic workers,
factory workers, nursing aides and fishermen.

Labor Secretary
Rosalinda Baldoz said that Taiwan ’s parliament has amended the
provision of the island’s Employment Service Act extending the previous
cumulative stay limit of nine years for foreign workers, including
Filipinos from nine to 12 years.

OFWs in Taiwan number about
90,000, of which around 15 percent are caregivers and domestic helpers,
while the remaining are factory workers..... MORE

By Arlie O. Calalo 02/28/2012
Malabon City Vice Mayor LenLen Oreta has formally taken over the post of his ailing uncle Mayor Canuto “Tito” Oreta.

In
a huddle with some members of the media, the younger Oreta, who is
first cousin of President Aquino whose late father was the elder brother
of ex-Sen. Tessie Aquino-Oreta, the vice mayor’s mother, confirmed that
he has assumed the city’s top post.

Asked on the health condition
of his uncle, who has been undoubtedly well-loved by most residents and
even some political rivals for his kindness and being too caring to
them since the time he was Barangay Maysilo chairman and barangay league
president for years, Acting Mayor Lenlen said he was slowly recovering.

“He is on leave and he is recovering but he needs complete rest,” said the younger Oreta on his ailing uncle..... MORE

Gatdula filed the petition in connection with
allegations that he was behind the ambush on Esmeralda’s convoy last
week which De Lima and Esmeralda stated that it was linked to the case
of a Japanese national who claimed that Gatdula’s men extorted money
from her in exchange for her liberty..... MORE